Hawks and Rangers Tie, Hull Hurt

Mar. 10, 1965 - “Terrible,” Bobby Hull muttered as he reached down to dry his left knee with a towel in the Chicago dressing room at Madison Square Garden tonight. “The pain is terrific.”

Hull, who two months ago seemed certain to break the NHL season goal-scoring record of 50, was little more than half his usual self tonight as the Black Hawks and Rangers played a 1-1 tie. He has scored only one goal in Chicago’s last 20 games and has slipped to third place in the NHL scoring race. That, plus the pain from his knee, has made Hull tense.

The fact that Chicago got only one point in a game against the Rangers, and the knowledge that first-place Detroit had beaten Toronto, 4-2, didn’t help Hull’s mood. He maintained his characteristic politeness but seemed to wish that questioners would leave him alone. He is tired of being asked what is wrong with Bobby Hull. He is also tired of making excuses for himself, which he has been forced to do.

“I don’t know,” he said when asked when the doctors thought his knee would be back to normal. “I have no strength in the knee.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Camille Henry rooms with Hull on the road. “He’s tense,” Henry explained. “He simply hasn’t got full mobility, and people expect so much from him.”

Chicago coach Billy Reay also expected a lot from Henry, who went to Chicago in a seven-player trade with the Rangers a month ago. So far, Reay and Henry have both been disappointed. 

“[Ranger coach Red] Sullivan played him into the ice in the first half of the season,” Reay said. “It’s tough enough for a healthy man to play hockey, let alone a man who isn’t physically right.” Henry, who must wear a brace on his lower back at all times and weighs 142 pounds, is not “physically right.”

Henry is not the Chicago type. The Hawks are rugged body-checkers, adept slashers, and second only to Toronto in their ability to hold onto the opposition. Henry is the Sonja Henie-type player.

Camille was on the ice when Phil Esposito slipped the puck under Marcel Paille’s belly at 14:32 of the second period in Chicago’s only goal. Bob Nevin (pictured No. 8) had scored for the Rangers 26 seconds earlier.

Hull was on the bench at the time. That’s where he’s been for most of the Chicago goals recently.

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